Ultimate Fighter Finale cards weren’t always so garbage-ass. On December 5th, 2009 — four years ago today — the TUF 10 Finale went down in Las Vegas, with a lineup featuring Jon Jones (before he became light-heavyweight champion), Frankie Edgar (before he became lightweight champion), Kimbo Slice (who was one of the most popular figures in the sport at the time), as well as Roy Nelson, Brendan Schaub, and Matt Mitrione. Today, a UFC card with those names would be sold as a pay-per-view, and it would probably do pretty damn well*. In 2009, this was just another free show on Spike TV, a cable channel that everybody knew how to find. Damn…we just didn’t know how good we had it back then.

Jon Jones, who was 22 years old at the time, had earned a prime spot on the TUF 10 Finale main card thanks to his 3-0 run in the UFC light-heavyweight division, which included a hilariouslymadcap decision win against Stephan Bonnar, and a second-round submission of fan-unfavorite Jake O’Brien. This was the pre-backlash Jon Jones, a guy who was universally beloved for his dynamic wrestling ability and his improvisational striking, which he picked up (as the legend goes) from watching YouTube videos. Matt Hamill was supposed to be just another stepping-stone in Jones’s quick rise to the top — a recognizable TUF-guy for him to squash. And that’s exactly what happened, even though Hamill wound up winning the fight on a technicality.

“Will he?” “Won’t he?” The talk since UFC 167 has been centered around the potential retirement of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. GSP’s face showed superficial damage following his split-decision win against Johny Hendricks, but more seriously, he absorbed the kind of blows that rattle the brain around the skull with life-altering consequences.

Even if St-Pierre returns to the octagon, the twin realities of declining motivation and the onset of age could see his legacy tarnished the same way Roy Jones Jr. forever damaged his reputation by continuing to box after appearing diminished in beating Antonio Tarver by majority decision in 2003.

Major pay-per-view draws like GSP and Anderson Silva simply cannot fight forever. When they try to continue past their prime, as BJ Penn insists on doing, it can hurt their drawing power. The UFC relies on stars who can captivate audience interest and raise the stakes, and right now the safe money for a dominant champ to rejuvenate the UFC’s fortunes is on light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.

In terms of public relations, Jones has been walking a tightrope, dealing with hyper-critical fans and the venomous Zuffa brass over various incidents ranging from speaking gaffes to the cancellation of UFC 151 to incurring a DUI while wrapping his Bentley around a telephone pole. The bottom line for Zuffa is simple — Jones is an asset for consistently bringing in solid pay-per-view numbers, but he needs to play the game and allow Zuffa to dictate the strategy.

In the 20-year history of the UFC, no fighter has ever held two title belts simultaneously, or kicked off a championship reign in a second weight class immediately after leaving his original division. If any fighter could accomplish such a feat at this point, it’s Jon Jones, who has already enjoyed a tremendous run at 205 pounds, and has the height and reach to make a move to heavyweight seem credible.

Jones has been considering a hypothetical move to heavyweight since early 2012, but the switch is looking more and more likely as 2014 approaches. While speaking at Gentlemen’s Expo in Toronto over the weekend, Jones voiced his desire for a super-fight against heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez within the next year, followed by a permanent departure from the light-heavyweight division. Here’s what he had to say, via MMAWeekly:

“I think that’s going to happen within the next two years. I’ll go up to heavyweight, permanently,” Jones said. “I’ve been really thinking about me and Cain Velasquez going at it. Don’t be surprised if you see that sooner or later.”

Jones added that he thinks a fight between him and Velasquez will be huge for the sport, and he anticipates taking a “super fight” within the next year.

Velasquez typically tips the scale at roughly 240 pounds, routinely fighting opponents that outweigh him by up to as many as 25 pounds. Jones said he walks around at about 230 pounds, but would pack on some extra muscle to fight Velasquez at a similar weight.

“I would gain about 10 pounds of muscle and compete with him at about 240 [pounds],” Jones said…

UPDATE: Uh…just kidding. MMAJunkie reports that the Jones vs. Teixeira fight will *not* take place at UFC 170, as Jones will be unavailable for an undisclosed reason. This is the second time that this shit has happened.

Jones is coming off his record-setting sixth title-defense, which came in a squeaker against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in September. The hard-slugging Teixeira is riding one of the longest win streaks in the sport — 20 straight victories, unbroken by draws or no-contests — and TKO’d Ryan Bader in September to pick up his fifth win in the UFC.

The rankings were determined by over 100,000 online voters, and do not feature anybody else from the world of MMA, which just adds more support to Dana White’s recent claim that the UFC still isn’t mainstream. Still, #26 is pretty damn impressive for a cage-fighter. To put that in perspective, the next three guys on the list are the Pope (#25), Floyd Mayweather (#24, that son of a bitch), and Howard Stern (#23).

Start placing your bets on Glover Teixeira to win big, Potato Nation, because Jon Jones just done screwed up the rest of his career.

The curse of the EA Sports cover is an urban legend as old as time itself, predating that of the Sasquatch, the choking Doberman, Bloody Mary, Paul Harris (a.k.a The Brazilian, Ankle-Eating Sasquatch), and even The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs. Unlike all of those other legends, however, the EA Sports Cover Curse has been proven to be 100% true. And it appears that Jon Jones — insolent, arrogant Jon Jones — has decided to doom his career to an endless string of injuries and underwhelming performances by appearing on the cover of EA’s inaugural UFC game. Said Jones in a press release:

It’s another one of those surreal moments, one of those moments you just have to step back and pinch yourself and realize I’m not dreaming. I’m trying to achieve it all. I’m trying to start a precedent for fighters of the future. I’m trying to give people a lot to live up to. This means a lot to me.

It was additionally revealed that Entwal Armoris, the pagan God of misfortune and pestilence embodied by the EA curse, will be joining Jones on next year’s cover. That’s him shrouded in darkness to Jones’ right…(*checks earpiece*)…I’m sorry, I’m being told that the shadowy figure is not actually Entwal Armoris, but a placeholder for a fighter who will be voted in by the fans at UFC.com/covervote. I’m also being told that there is no pagan God of misfortune or pestilence. I apologize for misleading you.

We’ve thrown a preview of EA SPORTS UFC after the jump. Check it out and then pray that I never have to write about video games again.

Both fights will take place at a “Fight Night” event on March 8th when the UFC returns to London. Gustafsson, of course, is coming off of a very close decision loss to Jon Jones, while Nogueira is on a two fight win-streak, including his decision win over Rashad Evans earlier this year, and his TKO of Tito Ortiz way back in December 2011. Bones will face Glover Teixeira in his next bout, for some reason.

After Jones beats Teixeira and Gustafsson dispatches of Lil’ Nog (at least that’s what the UFC is betting on), Jones and his Swede challenger will once more lock horns. No word yet on who Daniel Cormier will get in his light heavyweight debut, yet.

UFC president Dana White spoke with assembled press after UFC 166 Saturday night in Houston. Per usual, all topics were on the table including judging, reffing, who is and isn’t on the chopping block and the future of the heavyweight and light heavyweight division title scene.